Following his outburst to Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson, after losing to FC Barcelona 2-0 in the Champions League first leg clash, Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has been slapped with a two-match ban by UEFA that will see him miss the second leg of the duel at the Nou Camp.
The Citizen’s boss receives a touchline ban which could trigger a further one game suspension if the offence is repeated.
According to UEFA, Pellegrini’s words were “in violation of the general principles of conduct under Article 11 of the 2013 UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (DR)”.
Pellegrini caused uproar after the clash between Manchester City and FC Barcelona at the Etihad stadium where the normally composed Chilean accused the referee of not being “impartial” and even going as far as stating that “UEFA should not have put a Swedish official in charge of such an important encounter”.
However, after an investigation was launched into Pellegrini’s comments, the City boss apologised to the Swedish official at a press conference, stating: “When you have lost a game the way we lost against Barcelona, you are frustrated, you are angry, and of course maybe I said some things that I don’t think. That’s why I apologise for what I said.”